Do I need to substitute my printhead?

[Celso]

Dear All, I started to get imperfect prints while printing documents with PGBK. I cleaned the print head through the maintenance panel of the printer. I also took the head out of the printer and cleansed it. Is it in the end of its life? Should I try to clean it in different ways? My printer is a Canon MX922 and it has printed between 10.000 and 10.150 prints. Thank you!

 

[maximilian59]

1. Do you use OEM inks or third party? If you use third party check for ink by pressing and look for ink coming through the outlet.
2. Perform a strong cleaning per the menu and two normal ones. Then make a nozzle check. If you see some progress, do it again.
3. You can also unplug the printer from the power supply after normal shut down. The printer also performs some cleaning routines. Then again print a nozzle check.

As long as you see progress you can go on. You have nothing to loose. In my experience these printers can take some cleaning processes till the sponge is filled. That is a risk I know.
Always check that there is plenty of ink in the cartridge before you start the cleaning process. If ink level is low use a new one.

Good luck,
Maximilian

 

[Celso]

Thank you. I will try the above and revert here.

 

[Celso]

Forgot to answer your question. I refil my cartridges since I purchased it about 4-5 years ago.

 

[stratman]

Forum member @maximilian59 gives great advice. I'll expand on it a little. It's gray, cold and snowy so I have some time to type.

You have an ink flow issue that can be from poor flow of ink through the sponge of the cartridge, or reversible clogged nozzles in the print head, or irreversible burned out nozzles, or a combination of any or all. It could also be due insufficient ink in the cartridge.

The first thing to do is NOT print anything other than nozzle checks until the issue resolves or a member says otherwise. Canon print heads use the ink to cool the nozzles, which work by heating up the ink and then spitting it out. No cooling ink eventually results in irreversible burned up nozzles.

Secondly, when there is missing ink on the printed page, it is smart to then try a new or known working cartridge(s) to see if that resolves the issues. Since you refill, you could also try fully flushing the cartridges at the sink with eater, let dry until the chip and its electronic board are completely dry and then reset, refill and reinstall. The idea hare is to reduce confounders in your diagnostic/treatment routine that may confuse the issue.

Third, with the new cartridges, print a nozzle check. If not fully back to normal then you can run a regular cleaning (two at most) and reprint a nozzle check. If no improvement then you may try ONE Deep Clean cycle and then retry a nozzle check. (No more than ONE Deep Clean in 24 hours and try not to do them at all as it heats the nozzles). Then let the printer sit overnight and try a nozzle check with or without 1-2 Regular Clean Cycle. You could also bypass a Deep Clean altogether if you want and wait till the next day to do a nozzle check. There is not perfect way. Each person is going to give you their own opinion.

If you see improvement at all then you are on the right road. But have patience. Sometimes the nozzles slowly unclog. You may be able to get around printing defects by either using a Photo Paper setting (so it uses the Dye-based inks for Black text) for printing text if the Pigment Black is a problem. If the Dye-based inks are causing a printing problem then using a Higher Print Quality may provide a workaround.

Most likely a new print head will resolve your issues, though they may be expensive or difficult to find. If you are in the USA then call Canon Sales as they often have the lowest prices and you are assured you will not get a counterfeit refurbished sold as new (beware sales out of China).

Scan, crop and post your nozzle checks so we can see if there is improvement. To decrease artifact in your scanned nozzle check, follow the scanner settings recommendation from the great forum member @PeterBJ .

 

[Celso]

Thank you for the time that you spent helping me. Very comprehensive response of yours.

I did the deep clean cycle followed by two "quick" ones previously suggested. No progress. The nozzle print check does not show any improvement. It is a perfect copy of the one that I uploaded here.

My wife uses the printer and from time to time I check it to see if the carts have suficient ink. Earlier today I identified the problem. To summarize, I do not know for how long my wife kept the printer printing with the head already facing problems.

I have a spare refurbished head that I purchased long time ago. It is still in its sealed back. I know it is a lottery and can damage the board of the printer. Unfortunatelly I am not in the US and, thus, buying it from Canon is almost impossible. Anyway, I would like to explore all possibilities to fix the original one that came with the printer before changing the head.

I check the cart and used a paper clip to secure that the ink is from the tank to the sponge. I curved the paper clip and moved insided of the cart to make sure that "channel" between the tank and the sponge was clear. I did it before trying the deep clean mentioned above. Unfortunatelly, it did not work.

Hope the printer tomorrow awakes in a different and better mood..

If you have any other suggestion I will be more than happy to hear about it.

Once again, thank you.

 

[PeterBJ]

The recommended settings for scanning nozzle checks with a Canon CIS scanner are here.

 

[Artur5]

@Celso, if you told us where you’re located, possibly we could give you addresses of reliable vendors for the printhead used by your printer ( model QY6-0086).
Take into account that genuine new printheads are expensive : 70 euro plus shipping in Europe. If your current printhead can't be fixed, maybe a new printer would be a better investment.

I suspect that if you own a MX922 you’re not in Europe (the equivalent Canon model there is MX925).
Your MX922 is for North America, but you’re not in the USA. Maybe Brazil ? Celso is a Galician/Portuguese/Brazilian name... but I’m speculating.

 

[The Hat]

if you told us where you’re located, possibly we could give you addresses of reliable vendors

I have recommended that location should be included when registering, but House management overruled..

if you own a MX922 you’re not in Europe (the equivalent Canon model there is MX925).
Your MX922 is for North America, but you’re not in the USA. Maybe Brazil ? Celso is a Galician/Portuguese/Brazilian name... but I’m speculating

Give the man a cigar..

 

[PeterBJ]

Here are the Canon regions, compiled from a cartridge vendor's website:

Region 1 for South American and Mexican markets
Region 2 for North American market = US and Canada
Region 3 for Japanese market
Region 4 for Middle East, Russian and African markets
Region 5 for European and Australian markets *)
Region 7 for Asian market
Region 8 for Chinese market
*) With the introduction of the PGI-x50/CLI-x51 cartridges Australia and New Zeeland got their own region 6:
PGI-650, CLI-651 C/M/Y/BK/GY

Notice that region 2 is US and Canada. Region 1 is Mexico and South America. But there have been a few posts about printer region change when moving to another part of the world and bringing the printer with you.